Tunisian hygiene leader delivers historic profitability at home while grappling with challenges in new beauty venture
In a regional economic landscape still grappling with persistent inflationary pressures, Tunisian hygiene products leader SAH Lilas has once again demonstrated the resilience of its business model, though the 2025 fiscal year tells a tale of two very different trajectories.
On one side, the group delivered formidable industrial efficiency across its Tunisian and Sub-Saharan African operations. On the other, its ambitious foray into the cosmetics segment got off to a rocky start.
“Scissor effect” propels SAH Tunisia to historic heights
The standout achievement of the fiscal year lies unequivocally in the parent company’s intrinsic performance.
While SAH Tunisia’s individual revenue edged down 1.9% to 472.7 million dinars, the company posted its strongest margin performance in four years. Net income for the standalone entity rose 6.0% to reach an all-time high of 52.8 million dinars.
This operational tour de force was driven by a perfectly executed “scissor effect,” the simultaneous reduction of costs and improvement of margins.
By cutting consumed purchases by 5%, SAH Tunisia pushed its individual gross margin to a record 43.5%, representing a spectacular 10.9 percentage-point gain over four years.
This optimization of supply costs more than offset a 10.7% increase in payroll expenses and mitigated the impact of net financial charges, which declined by 9.2%.
On the liquidity front, this profitability translated into excellent cash conversion. Operating cash flow reached 62.2 million dinars, generating free cash flow of 40.7 million dinars, a solid financial position that comfortably covers the 33.6 million dinars in dividends distributed to shareholders.
Adult hygiene and Africa drive growth
On the domestic Tunisian market, which remains the group’s defensive anchor (83.7% of individual revenues at 396.5 million dinars), consumer habits are evolving. While mature historical segments like baby products and paper show signs of saturation, the Adult Hygiene segment is emerging as a new high-value growth driver, posting a remarkable 24.6% surge to reach 57.6 million dinars.
Distribution remains dominated by the traditional channel (wholesalers and retailers), accounting for 64.4% of sales, compared with 17.1% for large and medium-sized retail outlets.
